Sunday, December 31, 2017

Those two weeks I forfeited two games because I didn't get the Thursday night game picks up in time eventually cost me along with me transposing a NFL Week 5 pick in which I correctly picked Washington to win but when I wrote the official post inexplicably transcribed it the opposite way.

Nevertheless, I was still in positing to capture my third straight title despite all that drama this season.

I had a one game lead going into today and all I had to do was at least tie Mr Watts to get the threepeat. Instead I had my third (and fatal to my threepeat) losing week of the season.

Arrgh. And yeah, I'm going to be thinking about those two missed Thursday night game picks all offseason.

But enough jibber jabber about me screwing up. Mike went 36-12 over the last three weeks to my 34-14 to capture the TransGriot 2017 NFL prognostication title.

Congratulating to our new NFL prognostication overlord. And yeah, coming for you in 2018.

There were many worthy nominees, and Trump more than did enough in his ongoing dumpster fire of a mispresidency to win the SUF of the Year for a third consecutive year.

But I decided to give it to another deserving fool this year.

The five 2017 Shut Up Fool of the Year finalists I narrowed it down to were a group award for the Republican Party, Milo Yiannopoulos, Alex Jones, Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

The envelope please.

The 2017 Shut Up Fool of the Year is Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick
Potty Dan Patrick wasted much of his political capital and Texas taxpayer dollars trying to foister an unjust anti-trans 'Bathroom bill' on the state that the Texas trans community, its allies, Texas reality based citizens, Texas police departments and police chief , the Texas business community, Texas oil companies, Texas colleges and universities, the mayors of Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin, and most importantly Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio) and Chairman Byron Cook (R-Corsicana) of the House State Affairs Committee repeatedly told him they didn't want and was bad for Texas.

But Patrick and his henchwoman Sen. Lois /Locker Room' Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) tried to force this legislative cow chip through the 2017 regular legislative session and a special session he forced that cost the state's taxpayers an addition $800,000 only to fail twice to pass it.tanks to the adults in the Texas House.

Just talking about SB 6 passage cost the Houston, Dallas and Austin millions $66 million in lost convention business. It cost Galveston, TX a conference, and put $200 million of business in jeopardy.

And why? For Dan Patrick's personal political gain.

That anti-trans rhetoric he, Lois and his party peddled during the session to pass SB 6 led to four trans Texans being killed and others being harassed across the state.

And once it was clear it wasn't going to pass in the Special Oppression Session, Patrick blamed everybody but the person staring back in the mirror.

Saturday, December 30, 2017

The list of trans folks running for public office in 2018 just got a little bit longer.

Civil rights activist and journalist Ashlee Preston has announced she is going to run for the California State Assembly for the District 54 seat that was held by Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas

The 30 year old Assemblyman abruptly announced on Wednesday he was resigning from the seat and terminating his reelection campaign for it effective immediately because of health reasons.

Ridley-Thomas is the son of LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, and the Morehouse grad first captured the safely Democratic seat at just 26 years old in a 2013 special election. He was in the middle of his second full two year term before announcing his resignation.

Ashlee Preston has decided to jump into the race to be the next Assemblyperson from the Los Angeles area district that covers West LA, Mid-City LA and Culver City.

"As someone directly impacted by the issues that often diminish the quality of life, I have an acute understanding of which policies must be put into play in order to move progress forward for the constituents of the 54th District and beyond," said Preston.

"I believe in prioritizing people over politics. We are more than percentage points; we are real people with real stories. I fully intend to continue honoring those experiences, and advocating for those who don't have a seat at the table," she added.

A special election for the remainder of Ridley-Thomas' term will be held soon but as of this writing a date for it hasn't been set.

If Preston is successful in capturing the 54th District seat, she would become the first out Black trans woman elected to a state legislative seat since Althea Garrison did so in 1990.

Best of luck to Ashlee, and hope that she is chosen by the voters of District 54 to represent them in Sacramento and make that history..

It's the last week of the 2017 NFL season,which many of us in Houston considered it ended the day Deshaun Watson went down in practice with a knee injury and Bob McNair decided to do the right wing thing insead of the right thing to help the Texans win by not signing Colin Kaepernick.

But I still had a 2017 NFL prognostication contest to get through and I was playing for a third consecutive title. There are now sixteen regular season New Year's Eve games tanding between me and the threepeat,

Mr Watts hasn't rolled over. He's been on a hot streak. I've just been one game better. He went 12-4 in Week 16. I went 13-3. .

The Cleveland Browns are on the verge of joining the 0-16 club when they face the playoff bound AFC North Champion Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field. If the Browns win that game it'll be the upset of the decade. They have already clinched the number one overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

I just need to be better for one more week. So let's get to it. Mike's picks will be here. As usual, Team I'm picking to win will be in bold print with the home team in CAPS.

And what's my over/under number for NFL non-playoff teams head coaches and GM's to be fired on Monday? 7 coaches and 2 GM's

New Year's Eve Early GamesCOLTS over TexansLIONS over PackersVIKINGS over BearsSTEELERS over BrownsPATRIOTS over JetsWASHINGTON over GiantsEAGLES over Cowboys

New Year's Eve Afternoon GamesJaguars over TITANSBills over DOLPHINSRAVENS over BengalsRaiders over CHARGERSSEAHAWKS over CardinalsRAMS over 49ersPanthers over FALCONSChiefs over BRONCOSSaints over BUCCANEERS

Friday, December 29, 2017

Considering I was dreading the start of 2017 because Dear Cheeto Leader was about to desecrate the White House and we were starting a Texas Legislative session in which the number one priority of the lieutenant governor was to oppress Texas trans people, it turned out better than I thought.

It was also a year in which I did more travel to events inside the Lone Star State than outside of it.

My first event of the year was a panel for Leadership Houston in which I got to talk about the Houston and Texas trans community and the potential devastating impact of SB 6 on us and the state if it got passed.

My first out of state trip in 2017 was one to Philadelphia for Creating Change. There was also a Trans United Fund board meeting and fundraising event at Philadelphia City Hall I was scheduled to speak at.

I noted the irony of #CC17 starting during the final days of the Obama administration and the beginning of the Trump one, and I was happy that the TUF board meeting happened on Friday during Dear Cheeto Leader's inauguration so I didn't have to see that train wreck .

One of the instate events I attended was in February. I traveled to Irving in the DFW 'burbs for the Equality Texas sponsored Texas Transgender Leadership Institute. Once again I got to hang out with many of the DFW area Mama Bears, my BTAC family and other Texas trans leaders and allies from across the states for two days It was also the one in which I met the lovely Jessica Zyrie and Corpus Christi's Kitana Sanchez for the first time, and got to spend some quality time with Rev. Angie Shannon.

Then there was the several moths long long all hands on deck fight to kill SB 6 that lasted through the regular and Special Oppression Session I made 8 total trips to Austin along with the Texas trans community and our allies to help kill that human rights abomination of a bill.

One of the 8 trips was in late February to finally get my gender marker changed thanks to Nikki Araguz Loyd and Trans National Alliance

I'll show up from time to time for a street protest in solidarity with other groups. Was there at an ambush protest of Dan Patrick when he tried to sneak into Houston for the Houston Crime Stoppers dedication of the Dave Ward Building

On one of the Austin trips I went on offense and spoke at a hearing in favor of a Rep. Diego Bernal (D-San Antonio) authored bill that would add gender identity and sexual orientation language to the Texas housing discrimination bill. Unfortunately that bill died during the regular session.

But y'all know I was there in the ATX giving Lois Kolkhorst and her GOP senate colleagues hell for attempting to pass this unjust bill. I had to sit in the Capitol a little over eleven hours tht day before I got my chance to chew on the Republican dominated panel, so I had more than enough time to figure out what I wanted to say.to the Texas GOP oppressors

Got a chance to spend some quality time with my TBLGQ journalist friends in Orlando in March for this year's LGBT Media Journalist Convening. While we were there we took a trip to the Pulse nightclub to pay our respects to the 49 people who lost their lives in the mass shooting that happened here.

This year LGBTMedia17 was expanded to two days of workshops, and not only did I enjoy the extra day I got to spend with my LGBTMedia fam, I fell in love with the Rosen Center Hotel, especially since it was a block from a 7 Eleven.

I was also given the honor by the coalition of Latinx groups fighting the anti-immigrant SB 4 to speak that their Memorial Day rally at the state capitol to protest this unjust bill.

Thankfully it is tied up in the federal courts and here's hoping that discriminatory and unjust piece of legislative refuse never sees the light of day.

One of my goals in 2017 was to be better at role modeling intersectionality. I wanted to build connections this year with not only the Houston Black lesbian community, but build and strengthen my relationships within the trans Latinx community.

I got plenty of opportunities to do so in 2017, and one of them was when the Transgender Law Center brought their Latino Leadership Institute to Houston, and I spent much of the day hanging out with Jennicet Gutierrez and many of the Latinx peeps from around the country who were in attendance.

I was invited by BLMHOU to speak at their rally condemning the Spirit of the Confederacy statue standing for now in Sam Houston Park downtown that unfortunately didn't get swept away in the Hurricane Harvey caused flooding of Buffalo Bayou.

Was there along with BLMHOU and our allies to successfully help get Wesley Muhammad's transphobic and homophobic 'Chemical Femininity' lecture moved from SHAPE Community Center. and was invited to speak at a #MeToo rally in downtown Houston organized by Kandice Webber

I did receive another award this year and it came from a surprising place in the Human Rights Campaign.

HRC Houston honored me on April 1 with their John Walzel Equality Award for my nearly 20 years of human rights activism on behalf of the community. Still have it on my shelf, so it wasn't an April Fool's joke knowing the long contentious history I had with HRC in the past.

But things didn't all go my way in the awards department this year. Was nominated for my second GLAAD Media Award for Best Blog. That went to Alvin McEwen's Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters.. Was nominated for a F.A.C.E. and OutSmart Gayest and Greatest Awards in several categories but this wasn't my year for them either.. .

My bid to become the first ever trans woman of color named Houston Pride Parade Female Grand Marshal didn't go my way this time either.

But it's nice just to have people, and especially people in your hometown and birth state recognize your work. I did get to carry the trans pride flag as part of the color guard for this year's Houston Pride parade.

Also got an opportunity to go to Netroots Nation again, which was being held in the ATL. It was my third Netroots Nation event (2012, 2016, 2017) and the first time I'd ever attended back to back ones.

I also happened to be in the ATL as the local trans community was holding a memorial service for their slain trans sister Tee Tee Dangerfield. I was just planning on attending and showing my support to the local community, but was asked by the organizers to represent the national trans community and speak .

While I was attending Netroots Nation, I was a participant in two panels. As the 2016 Netroots Nation Pundit Cup Champion, I was also a judge for the championship round and yep, it fell on me to cast the deciding vote. I passed the title on to my successor, 2017 Netroots Nation Pundit Cup Champion Tenaja Jordan. That made three straight years that the Pundit Cup Champ has been a Black woman, and two straight years the finalists had been people of color.

Should be interesting to see how the 2018 Pundit Cup competition shakes out in NOLA August 2-4.

Speaking of interesting, for the first time ever I got to attend San Diego Comic Con, and it was for a panel. After the panel Faith Cheltenham and I ended up called out a white woman dressed as Whoopi Goldberg's Star Trek Next Gen character Guinan for wearing Blackface.

Reminder people, Blackface is not apropos anywhere for any reason, even at Comic Con. If you try it, you will get called out for it. I got to spend the next few days wandering around the convention center checking out the event as the Texas Senate held their second SB 6 hearing while i was out of the state.

There were radio and television interviews, panel discussions and Trans 101 class conversations at universities, showing up at Houston City Council a few times to speak and me teaching Texas Trans History at the TTNS in Nacogdoches and a few months later at Gender Infinity on the UH campus.

And yes, me dishing out domino lessons during BTAC in Dallas. Can't wait to see my BTAC family in April

One of the last events I participated in for 2017 was a somber one. The vigil that was held at Houston City Hall to honor the 24th victim of anti-trans violence and the fourth in Texas this year in Brandi Seals. There are some issues that cropped up we will be dealing with in 2018

Guess I was little busier than I presumed I had been in 2017. With 2018 being an election year and this being my 20th anniversary year of trans and human rights activism, looks like I'm in for more of the same .

We are in the 52nd week of 2017, which means that New Year's Eve is happening this weekend.

That also means I'll be announcing the 2017 TransGriot Shut Up Fool of the Year from a slate of deserving fools. You'll know before you hit the streets to do your New Year's Eve partying.

But before I handle that business, there's the matter of since today is Friday deciding who gets the last weekly Shut Up Fool award of 2017.

Honorable mention number one is Donald Trump. The two time SUF of the Year had to remind me he was still an idiot by trying to pimp the lie he got everyone to say 'Merry Christmas' again.

Honorable mention number two is Indiana state Rep Milo Smith (R) who filed a bill that would force the Indianapolis Colts give refunds to fans through the end of the first quarters of games if Colts players do a take a knee protest during the national anthem.

Note to Milo. Compelling allegiance to a flag or an anthem is not patriotic, it's tyranny

honorable mention number three is Mike Huckabee, who tried to compare Trump to Winston Churchill and got torched by the Twitterverse for it.

Honorable mention number four is Roy Moore for not only continuing to be a sore loser, but claiming he lost due to 'voter fraud'.

Dude, you lost by over 20,000 votes, and until your party does something that helps African Americans, we will continue to vote against your azzes at a 98% clip.

This week's LAST SUF winner for 2017 will stay in Texas, and it's Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Kilgore.

Kilgore after getting 1.4% o the vote in the TX GOP gubernatorial primary in 2014, is running again in 2018.
He's ramping up the anti-TBLGQ extremism in this run, and recently posted on his Twitter feed that gays, adulterers and people who engage in bestiality should be executed.

Hate thoughts plus hate speech = hate violence and murders. .
His platform also includes the abolition of public schools, ending welfare and Social Security and abolishing public prisons to replace them with executions and public shaming.

Like is said. Kilgore doesn't need to spend one nanosecond in office. But the haters in the Texas Republican Party base will probably eat that up.

This is one fool that definitely needs to not only shut up, but not see on nanosecond in any elective office.

Thursday, December 28, 2017

We've lost another of our trans elders and pioneers in Stanford University neuroscientist Dr. Ben Barres.

Dr Barres passed away at age 63 on December 27, 20 months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer

Dr Barres focused his research on the cells in the brain that aren't nerve cells, called glia cells. That research would revolutionize the field of neurobiology

He authored over 167 peer reviewed papers during his career and waselected to membership in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.

If we eventually find a cure for Alzheimer's and other neurological conditions, Dr Barres' research into glial cells will be indispensable in putting scientists on the path for doing so.

As a trans masculine person, he was a champion for marginalized groups in academia and society, and will be missed by his colleges and all who loved him.

Houston City Council public comment sessions can be entertaining at times with people from all walks of life able to speak for up to three minutes on whatever topic they choose.

That means that in addition to having people come to City Hall to comment on issues like flooding, potholes, public safety and other issues germane to life in a large city, we also get our share of peeps who use their time to discuss conspiracy theories worthy of an Alex Jones InfoWars episode.

One way we regulars who speak at Houston City Council meetings definitively know that we have come to the end of a public comment session is when President Joseph Charles comes to the podium to get his one minute to say whatever he wants until his time has expired.

He's been a fixture at every City Council public comment session for over a decade, but during my last visit to City Hall I noticed that somebody was missing: President Joseph Charles.

No one at City Hall has seen or heard from him over the last several months, so that has my inquiring mind asking the question where is he?

Is President Joseph Charles still in town? Has an illness or medical issue cropped up that has kept him from coming to City Hall? Or has he passed on?

It would be nice to have a definitive answer to these questions I'm posing.

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

2017 for the Black trans community was definitely a year of highs and lows. As usual we had people make history in big and small ways,

Sadly we lost far too many people in 2017 due to anti-trans violence..

Let's get the bad news out of the way first. With four days left in this year, we have lost 24 people to anti-trans violence. FYI unlike other lists, I count from January 1 to December 31 in the same calendar year.

Of those 24 people, 18 of them were African American trans people, with the youngest being just 17 years old. 17 of the eighteen trans African American murdered were trans feminine.

Sadly, of the four trans people we lost in Texas, two were African American, and one was in my H-town backyard in Brandi Seals.

One of the other things I need to talk about is Ky Peterson, who is unjustly still in a Georgia jail for killing his attacker while defending himself against being sexually assaulted.

Let's make this the last Christmas that Ky spends in jail. You can check out the FreeKy website for news on his case.

Now that I've gotten the bad news out of the way, let's move on to the more positive 2017 news starting with the historic elections of Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham to the Minneapolis City Council.

Andrea is the first out Black trans women elected to public office since Althea Garrison did son in 1990. Cunningham is the first out Black trans masculine person elected to ANY public office. Cunningham in his Ward 4 race beat a 20 year incumbent who was also the council president .

Jenkins and Cunningham are also the first trans persons of any ethnicity elected to a large metropolitan city council in a city over 250,000 in population.

We saw some groundbreaking thinks happen in the media world as well. Wear Your Voice named writer and activist Ashlee Marie Preston as their editor in chief

In June New York Times bestselling author Janet Mock released her second book Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me . Some blogger y'all know got her second nomination for a GLAAD Media Award in the 'Best Blog' category.

French model Ines Rau became the first ever transgender Playboy Playmate in October.

We were also repped at the National Women's March in Washington DC earlier this year thanks to Raquel Willis and Janet Mock.

Black trans people continued to make strides in Hollywood. Angelica Ross was tapped for roles on the shows Claws and the upcoming FX series Pose. Mya Taylor was tapped for a recurring role in AMC's Dietland. Laverne Cox was nominated for an Emmy for her Sophia Burset role on the show Orange Is The New Black.

Even in the business world, Black trans folks are kicking butt and taking names. One you need to keep an eye on is tech entrepreneur Dr. Kortney Ziegler. He's gaining attention with the Appolition app created with his business partner Tiffany Mikell that uses spare change to bail Black people out of jail. He and Tiffany are also seeking to raise a half million dollars for their start up tech company.

.Black trans Texans also played a role in helping to kill the odious anti-trans SB 6 bill Trenton Johnson, Carmarion Anderson, Dee Dee Watters, Jessica Zyrie, Mia Ryan and Nicole Perry made multiple trips to Austin (I made 8 trips) to not only talk to state lawmakers but spend hours waiting to give two minutes of testimony during the marathon hearings in the Texas House and Senate, and again during the Special Oppression Session senate hearing.

That's just a small snapshot of what the Black trans community accomplished during 2017. What groundbreaking things and history will we make in 2018?

Since 2009, every New Year's Eve I close out the year by selecting the person or person who excelled in exhibiling over the top levels of ignorance, showed Olympian levels of arrogance, and WTF levels of hypocrisy and did so for the entire year.

After a year that seemed like it has taken a decade to pass, we're finally at Christmas Day.

I've already received multiple early Christmas gifts. Finally got the gender marker change done. I got to see my hometown baseball team FINALLY win a World Series. I got to go to and doa panel at San Diego Comic Con.

And yes, with the help of the Texas trans community and a host of allies, we killed the unjust anti-trans SB 6 bill TWICE.

It has been a rollercoaster of a year for me with more highs than lows. It's also a year in which I and everyone else needs to take this holiday season time to stop and count our blessings.

And to me, one of those blessings is having wonderful friends who have my back. It's also nice to just step back from being in ongoing Defcon 1 combat mode as we fight World War T to just chilling and hanging out with your family, be they blood or chosen.

Hope that's what people are doing today as they open gifts, get their grub on or simply enjoy the company of the people they love and care about.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas everyone. Enjoy this day in the knowledge that 2017 is almost over, But once we get past New Year's Day, it's back to fighting for a better world for our trans kids and ourselves.

But first, time to open up my presents in a few hours and see if I got the Astros World Championship shirt I wanted or that Zappos gift certificate .

Saturday, December 23, 2017

This slog of a 2017 NFL season is almost over and I have this week and next before we tally up the final results and see whether I threepeated or Mr Watts becomes the NFL prognostication overlord again.

Since it's Christmas weekend, we have action today, Sunday and on Christmas Day. The Texans get to embarrass themselves on national TV at NRG Stadium against the Steelers (bah humbug Bob McNair) because they don't have a quarterback and they rather have a mediocre white one than a Black free agent one who went to a Super Bowl

Rant over, let's get to this week's picks I crushed Week 15 despite not having my pick up for the Thursday night game and had I done so probably would have won the week. Instead I tied.

But this late in the season a tie is as good as a weekly win for me because it means Mr Watts doesn't gain ground on me.

Friday, December 22, 2017

It's the Friday before Christmas day and the next to the last Friday in 2017 I'm so ready to move on from this year that 2018 can't get here fast enough.

I'm announcing who the five finalists are for the 2017 TransGriot Shut Up Fool Of The Year on Christmas Day, and you can actually vote for who should win it on my Twitter feed.

Speaking of fools, let's get to who should be this week's winner

Honorable mention number one to Donald Trump for just pick an outrage.

Honorable mention number two is Roy Moore for being a sore loser, not coming to grips with the fact he lost, and blaming everyone but himself for it.

Honorable mention number three is Nikki Haley, who thought she could bully very other UN nations to not vote on the resolution condemning Trump's declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and massively failed.

Honorable mention number four is Jill Stein. Moscow Jill actually blamed 'Clinton Democrats' for her azz being investigated for her trip to Moscow in which she was sitting at a table with Vladimir Putin , Michael Flynn and a few peeps. Naw boo boo kitty. I you really wanna know who is to blame, look in your mirror.

Jill, you really need to shut the hell up, you've done enough damage to our country

Honorable mention number five is a group award for the Republican Congress, who passed their Reagan Hood tax bill that robs from the poor and middle class to give a tax cut to that just like in the 1980's and the early 2000's, they'll hoard and it won't create anything but another deficit that the next Democratic president will have to clean the mess from.

This week's SUF winner is Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) who fell for the okey doke from Mitch McConnell, voted for the tax scam, and is now butthurt because her constituents are tearing her a new anus behind her vote.

You could have stopped this madness, but you chose to be a Profile in Cowardice and vote for it. So naw boo boo kitty, pull up the big girl panties and get all the derision you deserve for your vote that proves once again, white women's loyalty is to white supremacy., not doing what's right for the country.

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About The TransGriot

Monica Roberts, AKA the TransGriot (Gree-oh) is a native Houstonian, GLAAD award nominated blogger, writer, and award winning trans human rights advocate. She's the founding editor of TransGriot, and her writing has appeared at the Bilerico Project, Ebony.com, The Huffington Post and the Advocate.
She works to foster understanding and acceptance of trans people inside and outside communities of color and was recently honored with the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award

TransGriot Blog Mission Statement

The TransGriot blog's mission is to become the griot of our community. I will introduce you to and talk about your African descended trans brothers and trans sisters across the Diaspora, reclaim and document our chocolate flavored trans history, speak truth to power, comment on the things that impact our trans community from an Afrocentric perspective and enlighten you about the general things that go on around me and in the communities that I am a member of.

--Mission Statement compiled January 2, 2011

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Feel free to leave comments on the posts. But bear in mind that you are guests in my cyberhome. As soon as I get to them, your comments are posted at my pleasure.

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I strive to make it a safe zone for people to respectfully express themselves, but I have zero tolerance for hate speech, transphobic or blatantly disrespectful comments or ad spam.

I reserve the right to edit your comments for clarity or not post them at all.

2014, 2017, 2018 GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding Blog Finalist

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The TransGriot is available for speaking engagements, college lectures, panel discussions, media interviews, conferences or Trans 101 education efforts for your school, business or professional organizations.

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